COVID-19 6/19 UPDATE COVID-19 6/19 Update Global Total cases – 8,550,458 Total deaths – 456,881 United States Total cases – 2,205,307 Total deaths – 118,758 Total # tests – 25,403,498 Administration • President Donald Trump dismissed Anthony Fauci’s dire outlook for football this fall, saying the sport can be played safely but adding that he won’t watch if players resume protesting police brutality by kneeling during the national anthem • Wall Street banks should brace for their dividends to be influenced by adjustments to the annual stress tests that the Federal Reserve made due to the coronavirus pandemic, Fed Vice Chairman for Supervision Randal Quarles said Friday. o The exams help the Fed set the most important capital demands imposed on the largest U.S. lenders -- and they are instrumental for banks in setting shareholder dividends. While the tests have produced fewer shocks in recent years than in the period when they were initiated after the 2008 financial meltdown, next week’s results could see drama as the first to be calculated while a real crisis is raging. • Days before hosting a massive rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, President Trump said in a Wall Street Journal interview that some people at the rally this Saturday may catch coronavirus, but added “it’s a very small percentage.” o The President's words come as Oklahoma is seeing a steady increase in its average of new confirmed cases per day. • The US Food and Drug Administration sent warning letters to three companies selling Covid-19 tests that the FDA says were “inappropriately” marketed and “potentially placing public health at risk.” o This is the first time the agency says it has sent warning letters to companies for marketing adulterated or misbranded test kits. o The letters went to Medakit Ltd. of Sheung Wan, Hong Kong; Antibodiescheck.com and Yama Group; and Dr. Jason Korkus, DDS and Sonrisa Family Dental d/b/a My COVID19 Club of Chicago, Illinois. The agency asked COVID-19 6/19 UPDATE these companies to take immediate steps to fix violations and stop the sale of the products. • The U.S. Office of Special Counsel has directed the Homeland Security Dept to open an investigation into the TSA’s response to the coronavirus following whistle-blower allegations, Washington Post reports. o Whistle-blower Jay Brainard, a TSA manager in Kansas, claims the agency botched its early handling of the pandemic when millions of people continued to fly each day o Brainard contends that TSA is still doing too little to protect travelers and its own workers o A spokesman for the special counsel’s office said he could not confirm or comment on open investigations: Post • China, Russia and Iran have a very large disinformation campaign active against the United States as a source and exporter of COVID,” the U.S. Central Command said yesterday in a Twitter post. • Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he doesn’t think the department is legally required to disclose the businesses that have received billions of dollars in forgivable loans under the Paycheck Protection Program. He also said the loan applications say such data will “automatically” be released because the department wanted to be careful in case it decided to release it. o “I want to strike the right balance here on protecting what is clearly proprietary information of very small businesses, because this is set off of payroll while also making sure we have proper transparency,” he told NBC Philadelphia yesterday. • Pandemic relief efforts by the Treasury and the Federal Reserve boosted the corporate bond market, but may be falling short in assisting small business and state and local governments get access to loans, according to a report from a bipartisan congressional watchdog. The Fed’s announcement in March it would buy corporate bonds was enough to rally credit markets, with many large companies endangered by the shutdowns finding enough cash in capital markets to cushion the blow. o Yet several lending facilities that are aimed to help small businesses aren’t fully operating, according to a report released today by the Congressional Oversight Commission, and only one state has received a loan. • Anthony Fauci, the U.S. government’s top infectious-disease expert, will testify before the Senate Health Cmte on June 30, according to a statement from the panel. COVID-19 6/19 UPDATE o CDC Director Robert Redfield, HHS Assistant Sec. for Health Brett Giroir and FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn will also testify at the hearing o Panel will examine the progress federal, state and local governments are making to help reopen the economy and schools amid the coronavirus outbreak • President Trump says the coronavirus pandemic is near its end in the U.S. and he believes China may have encouraged the spread of Covid-19 as a way to undermine rival economies, according to the Wall Street Journal. o “There’s a chance it was intentional,” Trump tells WSJ in an interview o Trump says Covid-19 testing is overrated and allows for the possibility that some Americans wear face coverings to signal disapproval of him • Operation Warp Speed will likely not use the Defense Production Act as a primary tool to get a Covid-19 vaccine to the American public, General Gustave Perna says at Senate hearing considering his nomination to be chief operating officer for the program. o Perna says he feels he has the “capability and capacity in our authorities” to get a vaccine distributed quickly without using the Defense Production Act o Operation Warp Speed could have new therapeutics for Covid-19 available by October or November, Perna says, adding the program does not consider China to be a friendly partner country in regard to national security to work with on the development of a vaccine • Vice President Mike Pence will lead a closed-door meeting of the coronavirus task force today, the second meeting of the task force this week. They also met on Wednesday. o The meeting comes one day before President Trump's first campaign rally since the coronavirus pandemic ground American life to a halt, and as state are seeing spikes in cases. o Trump said in Wall Street Journal interview that he would not seek to replicate widespread Covid-19 testing if there was a similar reemergence of the virus in the US. Capitol Hill • Democrats leading House oversight panels ask FDA to brief their staff on development, review, and deployment of any eventual coronavirus vaccines, according to letter sent to FDA. o Lawmakers urge FDA to set rules and ensure transparency of the process to win public trust in the vaccine o “One simple step you could take today to ease the public’s uncertainty would be declaring that any vaccine candidate will have to prove itself safe and effective in COVID-19 6/19 UPDATE a complete Stage 3 clinical trial with at least 30,000 volunteers,” Reps. Carolyn Maloney, Jim Clyburn, Raja Krishnamoorthi write • House Democrats aren’t backing off their push for boosted unemployment benefits, aid for state and local governments, and direct stimulus payments, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D- Calif.) said yesterday, hoping to win over Senate Republicans who say that’s too much. o All three measures are essential to the next coronavirus response bill, Pelosi said at a press conference yesterday. And all three are important to the country’s economic rebound as social distancing measures begin to lift, she added. o Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and other Republicans have said House Democrats acted too fast in proposing another virus response bill while much of the funding from the CARES Act (Public Law 116-136) was still being paid out. • The debate over whether to continue providing Americans with the $600 weekly expanded jobless benefits continued during a House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis hearing yesterday. o William E. Spriggs, chief economist for the AFL-CIO and economics professor for Howard University, as well as other economists testifying during the hearing cautioned lawmakers from believing the worst of the coronavirus is over. “Despite a slight improvement in May from the records reported in April, we remain in the worst crisis the American labor market has faced on record,” Spriggs said in his testimony. o Black, Hispanic, and female workers stand to lose the most if Congress fails to extend the $600 weekly unemployment bonus “because by July 31, a much smaller share of unemployed Black workers and women will have received any unemployment benefits,” his testimony read. • Chairman James Clyburn (D-S.C.) criticized the White House and Mnuchin for failing to provide Congress necessary economic forecasts during the ongoing jobs crisis brought by the coronavirus. o The president is required by law to send Congress a mid-session review of the nation’s budget and financial condition, Clyburn said during the subcommittee hearing. Clyburn also sent a letter to Mnuchin and other officials demanding the release of unemployment and economic projections • House lawmakers this week explored ways to help families and workers affected by the pandemic, including a possible expansion of the earned income tax credit. COVID-19 6/19 UPDATE o Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) said Covid-19 exposes underlying economic inequalities in the country. He questioned Indivar Dutta-Gupta, co-executive director on the Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality, on how long-term policy could be shaped to help those most in need. o Legislation, like a bipartisan bill (S. 690) to expand the child tax credit, is worth pursuing, Dutta-Gupta said. • Medical workers that helped coronavirus cases across state lines in areas hit hardest by the pandemic wouldn’t face unexpected or increased state tax bills under bipartisan legislation (S.